Start time: 3/5/11, 7:30am
Location: All over DC
Distance: 12.67 miles
Average pace: 10:21min/mile
Total Miles For March: 16 miles
Total Miles For 2011: 114 miles

Last long run before the National, it seems. Five of us started out at 7:30am for a quick 4-miler before coming back to scoop up the others. Would’ve been unnotable except Ben tripped on a grate at mile 2 and skinned his knee. Didn’t look too bad, but it was a gusher, as anyone else in the same situation will know happens. Steve had some hand-wipes so we cleaned it off as best we could (several times, it was going all down his leg and onto his shoe) and once we got back to the cars, took a brief break to bandage it up from the kit in Jim and Michael’s car.

Those first four miles were really something like 4.4 miles, but I’d turned off the watch when we hit 4. (Habit I guess.) Picked up another 8 and two thirds on the second half, which despite a bathroom stop at mile 5 and a “gel emergency” right at the start of mile 12, all was good. So really a 13 miler, but I’m counting it as 12 for the purposes of… um… whatever the purpose of me tallying all this stuff up is. 🙂

(9:57, 9:36, 10:17, 9:44, 10:50, 10:14, 10:01, 9:48, 10:28, 10:36, 10:43, 11:36, 7:10)

Start time: 9/25/10, 7:00am
Location: Washington DC
Distance: 12 miles
Average pace: 10:24min/mile
Total Miles For September: 47 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 512 miles

Met up with the group for a 12-miler this morning, or rather, two 6-milers. Ran the first one with Steve and Monica; both had races last weekend (Savageman Triathlon and Air Force Marathon) and it was nice to hear how each race went. Before long we were back at the start point, and Monica headed out while Stephanie, John, Bill, and Ben jumped in. It wasn’t a bad run (although due to a surprise bathroom break for one member there is a particularly long mile in there), but towards the end I was itching to move a little faster and I ended up picking up the pace a tiny bit with Bill and Stephanie. When the group is large enough it’s nice to have that option, at least. (I do love my group but there are mornings when I wish everyone was equally eager to pick up the pace a tiny bit. Fortunately that was in the cards for the end today.)

(10:13, 10:35, 10:49, 10:24, 10:30, 10:03; 10:19, 10:24, 10:17, 11:20, 10:02, 9:48)

Start time: 9/18/10, 7:00am
Location: Washington DC
Distance: 12 miles
Average pace: 10:14min/mile
Total Miles For September: 26 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 491 miles

It was a small group this Saturday—just me, Dave, and Ben—but in some ways that ended up working to our advantage. We ran a 6-mile loop around the Capitol and then back along the Mall, and dropped Ben off once we got back to the start point. Then, Dave and I tackled another 6-miler along Hains Point, the Tidal Basin, and Independence Avenue. It was a good run; we picked up the pace a bit for the second half, although I know Dave was feeling it (last week he got up to 9 miles, and he’s getting ready for the Baltimore Half Marathon next month) but he pushed through well. Even with the walk breaks it was a respectable enough run. Not as strong as the 12-miler in Sag Harbor last month, but still not bad at all. And I’m happy the second half was the stronger one. It’s one of the things I’ve missed about running with Dave, even if one of us isn’t feeling it we keep the other one moving.

Oh, we also ended up running through part of the Run! Geek! Run! 8k while in Hains Point, which was amusing. Love the name of the race! And everyone who was still out on the course at that point (it had started about half an hour earlier) seemed in great spirits.

Tried a new gel, Honey Stinger. Who knew someone could actually make a banana or chocolate flavored gel actually taste good? I am amazed. I will order some.

Most importantly? Gorgeous day outside. Loving this weather.

(10:05, 10:48, 10:32, 10:42, 10:44, 10:45, 10:22, 10:03, 9:55, 9:40, 9:54, 9:11)

Start time: 7/17/10, 6:00am
Location: All over Washington DC
Distance: 12 miles
Average pace: 10:54min/mile
Total Miles For July: 29 miles
Total Miles For 2010: 361 miles

Some runs you go for with a specific time goal in mind, others are just to finish, and this was totally the latter. Thick, heavy humidity, and the temperature was already at 80 degrees when we started at 6am. (I shudder to think what it was when we finshed.) The group was going for 14 miles, but since we’d swung back near the cars around the 10 mile mark, I decided that 12 miles was more than enough since I don’t have a full marathon ahead of me and I soon split off from the group and headed back early. (Steve had already done the same earlier, but considering last weekend he did a sprint triathlon on Saturday and a half-iron triathlon on Sunday, I don’t think anyone could say he was slacking!)

But yeah, no one was having a good run. Lots of dragging and slowing down; it was a “just survive” sort of experience. We stopped at mile 7 for some additional water, and three miles later we needed refills again. Not a good day for running, really. But I’m glad to have finished off 12 miles, even if the conditions were nothing short of dreadful. One of the toughest runs I’ve done in the past ten years, easily.

(On the bright side, the route was wide-ranging and we even went through all four quadrants of DC.)

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3887435

(9:57, 10:35, 11:32, 10:54, 11:17, 11:41, 12:21, 10:37, 10:47, 10:53, 9:44, 10:22)

Start time: 8/1/09, 7:15am
Location: Rosslyn & Cap Crescent Trail
Distance: 12 miles
Average pace: 9:45min/mile
Total Miles For August: 12 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 471 miles

Wow, that was a craptacular end to a run. I bombed out big time in the last two miles, ugh. Finally told Charlie (whom I was running with) to just go ahead for the last half mile or so. Talk about running out of gas and overheating, big time. Oh well.

(9:57, 9:38, 9:21, 9:27, 9:36, 9:45, 9:26, 9:40, 9:34, 9:47, 10:13, 10:40)

Start time: 6/27/09, 7:00am
Location: SW Waterfront, National Mall, Rock Creek Parkway
Distance: 12 miles
Average pace: 9:05min/mile
Total Miles For June: 67 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 379 miles

Yay for proper hydration! I was much more careful to get the proper amount of hydration before my long run today, and that happily did the trick. No nausea like the previous two weekends, and I felt good and strong the whole way. I ran 9 miles with Aaron, Dave, Paul, and Dave’s friend Eddie. We started off a little slow, but at the turn around Aaron and Dave really started picking up the pace, which was nice. (Paul actually turned around half a mile earlier and then let us catch him on the way back, because he wasn’t quite feeling it.) Once we got back to the start, I turned around and picked up another 3 miles by myself at the same faster pace. It was a good, good run.

Start time: 4/19/09, 10:45am
Location: SW Waterfront, National Mall, Rock Creek Park
Distance: 12 miles
Average pace: 9:50min/mile
Total Miles For April: 51 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 241 miles

When you can see huge yellow clouds of pollen hovering over the National Mall? And can actually taste it? Something has gone severely wrong. Gah. I’m hoping the severe pollen levels in the area is why I was feeling sick to my stomach the last three miles of the run, because otherwise… complete mystery. Getting back up to speed now, plus Charlie was getting over a cold, so we didn’t worry about pace and just out and ran, although even then it wasn’t quite the pace I’d hoped for. But that wasn’t the point, right? I need to keep that in mind.

A little worried about my marathon in 14 days. This was a rough run.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2742191

(9:51, 9:13, 9:40, 9:35, 9:24, 9:46, 9:52, 9:40, 9:58, 10:00, 10:22, 10:35)